Jet fuel prices on Wednesday were hiked by over 18 per cent -- the steepest ever increase -- to all-time high levels after international oil price surged to a multi-year high.
The slot constraint in Indian airports is also going to play a role in pushing airlines to have wide bodies.
More than five years ago on an April evening, cash-starved Jet Airways announced temporary grounding of operations after flying as a full service airline for 25 years. Since then, more than 20,000 jobs and money worth thousands of crores owed to lenders, vendors and passengers evaporated while awaiting an insolvency resolution. And today, the Supreme Court ordered the airline's liquidation, marking the formal completion of a turbulent journey into the sunset and shattering lean revival hopes.
Wing Commander Raveendran and flight steward Sargeant Iyer, though shaken and injured, managed to open the rear door of the aircraft and shouted for Prime Minister Morarji Desai and the passengers in the forward cabin to exit in haste since they suspected that fire would engulf the aircraft.
Adani Group on Thursday said it has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Japanese conglomerate Kowa Group for sale of green hydrogen in Japan, Taiwan and Hawaii markets. Billionaire Gautam Adani-led conglomerate is investing up to $50 billion over the next 10 years in setting up a fully integrated green hydrogen ecosystem in India. This includes the production of 1 million tonne of green hydrogen in the initial phase which will be ramped up to 3 million tonne later.
Aviation turbine fuel accounts for 35-40 per cent of the total operating cost of an Indian airline.
Domestic air passenger traffic grew 5.1 per cent year-on-year to an estimated 138.9 million in May and was significantly higher by around 14 per cent than pre-Covid levels, credit ratings agency Icra said on Thursday. Icra also said the outlook on the Indian aviation industry is stable amid the continued recovery in domestic and international air passenger traffic with a relatively stable cost environment and expectations of the trend continuing in FY2025.
Jet fuel prices on Thursday were hiked by the steepest ever 16 per cent to catapult rates to an all-time high in step with hardening international oil rates.
Long-term macro trends indicate growth in demand for air travel. Trends from the ticketing website MakeMyTrip indicate a likely annual growth of between 11-17 per cent in Indian air travel demand over FY24-30. Through that period, InterGlobe Aviation or IndiGo may continue to make gains in market share in both domestic and international travel, aided by large fleet additions. IndiGo is the largest global customer of Airbus by far with 950 aircraft orders outstanding.
Aviation companies plan to join hands for importing aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in a bid to bring down their fuel bills.
Budget expectations aviation sector.
Shares of low-cost airline IndiGo hit record high on the bourses soon after reports of pilot crisis at Vistara emerged. The development also saw airfares surge by around 25 per cent on select routes. Shares of IndiGo hit a lifetime high of ~3,68.5 on April 2, 2024, and has gained 2.4 per cent on the bourses in April.
India is the third-largest domestic airline market in the world, up from number five position a decade ago, according to analysis based on OAG data. The data shows India's domestic airline capacity doubling in a decade from 7.9 million in April 2014 to 15.5 million in April 2024. In reaching the third slot, India has replaced Brazil (pushed to fourth place with 9.7 million) and Indonesia (relegated to fifth in the rankings with 9.2 million).
In reply to a question in Rajya Sabha as to whether Air India was eyeing Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) saving via direct fuel import, the Minister said, "AI has not yet decided about import of Air Turbine Fuel directly.
IndiGo share price today: IndiGo share price fell as much as 4.8 per cent to a low of Rs 4,275 per share on the BSE in Monday's intraday trade as investors booked profit in the stock post a its April-June quarter (Q1) results for financial year 2024-25 (FY25). The stock ended 1.36 per cent lower at Rs 4,430 as against a 23-points gain in the benchmark BSE Sensex. The selling also got exacerbated as the management commentary, post Q1FY25 results, highlighted that inflationary pressure could likely dent July-September (Q2FY25) performance.
According to sources, Russian energy giant Rosneft or its affiliates, Saudi Aramco and Reliance Industries are in race for BPCL's three refineries - Mumbai, Kochi in Kerala and Bina in Madhya Pradesh - 16,309 petrol pumps, 6,113 LPG distributor agencies and more than a fifth of 256 aviation fuel stations in the country.
Loans for Indian airlines have dried up as banks have become cautious to lend to the sector.
Earlier in the day, Jet Airways faced operational disruptions across major airports when IOC refused to refuel its planes without clearing the outstanding amount.
Jet fuel prices on Monday were hiked by a steep 6.5 per cent on the back of a rally in international oil prices. Aviation turbine fuel or ATF price was hiked by Rs 3,663 per kilolitre, or 6.5 per cent, to Rs 59,400.91 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This is the third increase in jet fuel prices since February. Rates were increased by 3.6 per cent on February 16, and by Rs 3,246.75 per kl on February 1. The increase in rates will add to the margin woes of airlines who continue to operate flights at less than capacity, amid pandemic-driven travel restrictions.
Private airport operators in the country on Wednesday said the government should bring aviation turbine fuel under the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Act and increase the duty-free allowances for incoming international passengers in this Budget.
The civil aviation ministry has sought continuation of the exemption on withholding tax on aircraft leased from foreign companies in the next budget for another year, saying it would benefit several airlines in the country.
The civil aviation ministry is holding talks with the finance ministry on rationaliation of sales tax on aviation turbine fuel and airport taxes.
'My one recommendation would be to first quell the violence and then encourage dialogue and build the trust among the different communities.' 'This is not easy but necessary, for violence cannot be the way forward.'
Boeing India president says with the rising prices of aviation fuel, the airlines do not have any option but to increase the fares.
The budgetary provision for all aviation infrastructure has generally been reduced, apparently with the view that most of the airport modernisation programmes, barring those in Kolkata and Chennai, were being carried out through public-private partnership.
Rising aviation turbine fuel cost, poor infrastructure, regulatory controls and reluctance of consumers to take to air travel are some of the issues hurting aviation industry in the country, Deccan Aviation executive chairman Captain G R Gopinath said.
Corporate margins and profits in India remain vulnerable to changes in crude oil prices in the international market. Historical quarterly data from listed companies (excluding banks, finance and insurance, oil and gas, and power sectors) indicate an adverse correlation between corporate margins and crude oil prices.
The cost of non-subsidised LPG -- the one that consumers buy after exhausting their quota of 12 bottles of 14.2-kg at below market price -- has been cut by Rs 100.5 to Rs 637.
Airfares are at an all-time low because of fall in crude oil prices.
"There was a drop of 30 per cent in passenger load factor leading to losses in many top airlines in the world including British Airways. But last quarter of 2009 has again raised some hopes of revival in the country," Patel told reporters in Nagpur on Monday.
Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Kingfisher and other airlines have told the government that they would curtail services frequency and air routes to cut losses after oil companies raised the prices of aviation fuel.
Dutta was president of United Airlines, where he worked for nearly twenty years. He also served as the president of Air Sahara for two years. Moreover, he was an advisor to the restructuring of both Air Canada and US Airways.
This is the second straight increase in ATF price this month. Rates were hiked by a record 56.5 per cent (Rs 12,126.75 per kl) on June 1. Simultaneously, petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the 10th day in a row.
It constitutes over 40 per cent of an airline's operating costs.
The only fuel that showed growth was LPG as the government dole of free cooking gas cylinders to poor households fired up consumption by 21 per cent during April 1 to 15.
Nearly 80 domestic and international flights received bomb threats in less than 24 hours that later turned out to be hoaxes, keeping thousands of passengers and security agencies on tenterhooks.
India, the world's third largest energy consumer, has enough petrol, diesel and cooking gas (LPG) in stock to last way beyond the three-week nationwide lockdown, as all plants and supply locations are fully operational, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) chairman Sanjiv Singh said.an Singh, who continued to oversee the mammoth operations of ensuring that fuel reaches every nook and corner despite the loss of his father on the day the 21-day lockdown was declared, said there was no shortage of any fuel in the country and customers should not resort to panic booking of LPG refills.
The crude oil rally will impact prices of aviation turbine fuel, which forms 30 per cent of the operating cost for an airline. The company incurred a loss of $23.1 million during the October-December quarter of FY08. This was against a net profit of $9 million during the corresponding quarter of 2006-07.
